


The 12th Time's A Charm

by starrnobella



Series: starrnobella's Christmas Countdown [17]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, F/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 02:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8872582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrnobella/pseuds/starrnobella
Summary: Sometimes things don't go quite as planned.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Another personal favorite of mine. It probably could have been a lot longer, but I wanted to keep these all as a quick reads for anyone who is interested in reading along as we countdown the days. I can't believe we are a week away from Christmas Eve! Where did the time go?
> 
> Quick note, tomorrow's story might go up later than usual because my entire family is coming over for our Christmas get together!
> 
> Title: 12th Time's a Charm  
> Rating: K  
> Pairing: Draco and Hermione  
> Summary: Sometimes things don't go quite as planned.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing besides the plot of this story. I do not write for profit. Thank you to J. K. Rowling for all the wonderful characters that we love to write about!
> 
> If you enjoy the story, please remember to review! Reviews make me want to continue writing. Some of these are my first attempts at a pairing, so please keep that in mind!
> 
> Love always,  
> ~starr

The ring was bought. His speech was planned. He had an idea in his head of how he would ask. Now all he needed to do was actually propose. He knew that he wanted it to be special and something that she would remember forever, but at the same time it had to be absolutely perfect. He was a Malfoy afterall and they didn't do anything less than perfection.

His original plan was supposed to be going out to a nice dinner and indulging on the riches of life. He wanted to treat her to all of the riches that she didn't have the chance to know growing up. That was until he discovered that his father decided to cut off his inheritance.

"What the bloody hell do you mean I'm cut off?" Draco yelled as he entered his father's study in a rage.

Lucius just rolled his eyes, "It's simple really. I decided that you were _wasting_ my money on that silly Granger girl and I didn't want to see my money being wasted, so I put an end to it."

Lucius had a smug smile on his face as he finished his remark. He was not about to stand by and watch his son throw his life away on some mudblood, especially if there was something he could do about it.

" _Silly. Granger. Girl_ **.** She is going to be my wife! Not some silly schoolboy crush! I've been spending money on her so that I could buy the perfect ring and plan the perfect proposal!" Draco screamed.

Narcissa happened to overhear what was going on when she walked past the closed door and came rushing into the study where her son and husband were fighting.

"You're going to propose to her?" she asked with happiness radiating from her face as she looked at her son with a proud smile on her face. She loved Hermione and everything she had done to make Draco happy. Also she was the reason Draco was back in their lives.

Draco turned to his mother nodding in response and said, "Yes, I'm planning to. I was planning to take her to a fancy dinner and treat her to the luxuries of life that she didn't have growing up. However, my father decided that what I was doing was frivolous and cut me off."

Lucius sneered in the direction of his wife and son. He would not be changing his mind. His son deserved better than the mudblood that he was in love with and he could not figure out why Draco did not see that. He also couldn't understand Narcissa's interest and encouragement of this pairing.

"Did you buy the ring already?" Narcissa asked curiously.

Draco nodded again as he pulled the ring box out of his pocket and opened it towards his mother. Upon seeing the ring, she clasped her hands over her mouth. The ring was gorgeous. A silver band with a diamond in the middle accented with emeralds on either side. Perfect for a Slytherin.

"Isn't she a Gryffindor?" she chuckled.

"Yes, but she looks even better in emerald and silver. Do you like it, mum?" Draco asked. Narcissa nodded her head slowly up and down.

"Don't you realize you deserve better than her?" Lucius hissed. He had heard enough of this nonsense. Not only was she a mudblood, but she was a Gryffindor to boot.

"Maybe I do deserve better, but what if I don't? In fact, maybe I'm not good enough for her. However she accepts me for who I am. But she is perfect to me and if you can't accept that fine. I'll support myself and Hermione. I don't need your money," Draco growled, "Good-bye father. I'll talk to you soon, mum."

He placed a soft kiss on her cheek and gave her a quick hug before he apparated back to work.

"You will fix this. I do not want him to shut us out of his life," Narcissa warned before leaving the study.

Lucius just rolled his eyes. He didn't care if his son wanted nothing to do with him. As far as he was concerned, he had no son.

* * *

One plan ruined by the lack of money, so now Draco had to come up with plan number two. Hermione's favorite holiday was coming up, so maybe he could plan something around it. He could propose after a snow covered carriage ride to her favorite spot in London, decorate the park with lights and write the question in the snow.

It was perfect and she would appreciate the sentiment behind the location. Now he just needed to remember where exactly her favorite location was. She had so many places she loved to visit when she was there, that it was hard to pinpoint just one to be her favorite.

A few hours later everything was planned. He had booked a hotel room and made travel arrangements. Since they had been living in the Muggle world and would be travelling to the city, he decided that they should take the train instead of just apparating.

By the time Hermione had gotten home from work, Draco had everything packed and ready to go. He was waiting impatiently in the kitchen for her to arrive. She walked in the front door of their flat and saw the luggage waiting by the front door.

"Draco? Why is there luggage by the door?" she called as she hung up her coat and headed in towards the kitchen.

Draco responded, "We're going on a trip into London. Spur of the moment kind of thing. Already got it approved for us both from the boss man."

Hermione quirked her eyebrow at him, but smiled when she realized that it was a few days off work where she could just relax. Something she needed desperately.

"Sounds perfect," she said and placed a quick kiss on his cheek, "What'cha making?"

"Your favorite, ham with mac n cheese," he replied as he leaned over to kiss her again, "How was work?"

"It was alright. Would have been better if the snow would have waited to start until after I got home. All the trains have been cancelled. Nothing is running tonight."

Draco dropped the spoon that he was holding, "What do you mean they aren't running?"

"The snow is too heavy and they can't get the tracks cleaned off so nothing is running tonight. They are hoping to have everything cleaned up by morning, but it depends on how much more snow we get tonight."

"Damn it. I wanted to head into London tonight."

"It's okay. We can see if we can leave in the morning."

"No, it had to be tonight. I'll see if I can change our reservations."

Hermione was leery of what was going on in Draco's head, but she didn't try to figure it out. She just shrugged her shoulders and began setting the table for dinner.

Now he had to come up with another plan. One that didn't involve travel that could be interrupted by the weather.

* * *

A few days had passed since the failed trip to London and another idea had stuck in Draco's mind. They were getting ready to head to the Burrow for the annual family dinner that Mrs. Weasley always hosted and he couldn't think of a better place for him to propose than with the people she called her family. He had started to think of them as family too.

"Ready to go, Hermione?" Draco said excitedly as he put on his coat.

"Almost, just have to grab the rest of the presents and take them to the car," she replied while gathering the last present that needed to be wrapped, "What's gotten into you? You normally dread this dinner."

Draco shrugged, "Just in the Christmas spirit this year, I guess. I'll take the presents out. Under the tree correct?"

"Yes. Make sure you get the right ones. Thank you!" Hermione called as she finished putting the finishing touches on the present.

The drive over to the burrow was a short one, especially when Draco drove like a madman. Especially because he had so much excitement building up inside him. Hermione couldn't put a finger on it, but something was definitely up with boyfriend this Christmas. She knew that his father had cut him off. He had told her, so that she would know why he had been picking up a few minor cases at the Ministry that he normally wouldn't just to have the extra cash, but that shouldn't have changed his demeanor when it came to attending her ex-boyfriend's family Christmas. Something else was going on and she was determined to figure it out.

When they arrived at the Burrow everyone was hustling and bustling about to help Mrs. Weasley get ready for dinner. Draco had volunteered to bring the presents in from the car. He loved Hermione and he loved how caring she was, but he could only stand the Weasleys for so long before they drove him crazy. The less time he had to spend with them the better, he just had to remember that he was doing this all for her. With a fake smile, Draco walked in the door to the Burrow and greeted everyone, except Ron, who refused to acknowledge him, after putting the presents under the tree.

Hermione had been in the kitchen helping Mrs. Weasley when Draco had come inside. When he got into the kitchen to say his hellos, he gave Mrs. Weasley and Ginny a hug before coming over to give Hermione a quick kiss and hug before rejoining the guys in the living room.

Just before dinner, Harry and Ginny had disappeared for a few minutes. The only person to have realized they were gone was Draco. Panic overtook his face. If what he assumed was happening, happened then he could not go through with plan number three. He refused to be the person to pull the attention away from someone else's big day, even if it meant he had to come up with a new plan.

Harry and Ginny reappeared just as Mrs. Weasley called them all in for dinner. They were both donning big smiles and Ginny was hiding her left hand from everyone. Everyone came in and sat down for dinner and that's when it started.

Harry tapped the side of his water glass with his fork saying, "Can I have everyone's attention a second? Ginny and I have an announcement to make."

Everyone turned to look at the them with eyebrows raised and curious looks upon their faces. Harry and Ginny looked at each other and smiled as they stood up.

"Ginny and I are…" Harry started to say when he was interrupted by Ginny.

"ENGAGED!" Ginny yelled as she started waving her left hand in the air towards her mother to show off the ring.

Congratulations were proclaimed all around the table as well as the girls asking to see the ring. Everyone was so excited, everyone that was except Draco. Draco tried not to look like he was sulking, but inside he was sulking a lot. He put on a happy face and played along with the banter that was going on around him as he began thinking of yet another plan.

* * *

Every single time he tried to plan a the perfect proposal something got in the way. On top of finding out his parents cut him off, finding out that he couldn't travel to London because of the snow, and being beaten to the punch by Potter, Draco had been cut off from his proposal eight other times. He had almost given up planning anything completely until he realized that maybe a proposal on Christmas Day would be the perfect thing for Hermione.

So his plan was simple. He was going to get up early and make her breakfast, which he would bring to her in bed. Pancakes were her favorite breakfast food, so he'd make her a stack and hide the ring box in the middle. As she went to cut through them, her fork would hit the box and it would cause her to stop and find out what was hiding inside. Then he would ask the question as he slowly opened the box sitting on her plate. It would be magical and perfect. The only thing he he hadn't thought of how to avoid her dumping syrup all over the pancakes. He'd figure it out in the morning.

Everything would have gone according to plan had Draco remembered to set his alarm the night before. When he woke up Christmas Day to an empty bed, he was not a happy camper. He ran downstairs to find Hermione sitting at the island in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee and reading the Daily Prophet. He hung his head and sighed as he walked into the kitchen.

"Morning," he said as he kissed her on the head before walking over to get himself a cup of coffee.

"Good morning, sleep head. Happy Christmas," she smiled.

"Yeah, Happy Christmas," he huffed, "How long have you been up?"

"Not long, just enough for two cups of coffee and the first page of the paper," she replied happily.

Draco laughed. That was typical Hermione. Early to bed and early to rise. He on the other hand was a night owl. He should have known better than to try and wake up before her. Especially on Christmas Day.

"Ready to open some presents?" she asked excitedly.

She could not wait to see his face when he opened the box that had keys to his new car. The one that he drove wasn't in the best of shape, so she took her Christmas bonus and bought him a new car. She would get use out of it as well, but it was mostly a present for him.

Draco nodded groggily as he walked into the living room following after her as she ran in very excited. He sat down on the couch as she started pulling presents out from under the tree. She looked like an excited child on Christmas morning as she sorted their gifts. He couldn't help but smile as he watched her. This was the Hermione he had fallen in love with. This was the woman he was going to marry regardless of what his father wanted.

"Hermione," he called softly. She looked up at him and he smiled as he patted the spot beside him on the couch. She looked at him puzzled, but got up to sit beside him.

"I've been trying to do this for the last two weeks," he said as he pulled the box out of his pajamas pocket and held it tight against his leg hiding it from her, "I've tried to have the perfect location, with the perfect speech. Hell I even tried to plan this around some of your favorite people. I had everything perfectly planned, but sometimes the perfect plans never pan out the way you want them to and you don't even realize that something is perfect until it actually hits you."

"Draco..." she started to say when he got up off the couch and got down on one knee in front of her, "What are you doing?"

He opened the box and presented the ring to her, "Hermione Jean Granger, will you marry me?"

The tears started to flow down her cheek as she nodded her head. She didn't have the words to say. For the first time in her life, she was completely speechless. She reached her hand out for Draco to put the ring on her finger. He hesitated a second.

"I need an answer before I can give you this," he told her with a wink.

She smacked him on the shoulder and shouted, "Yes!"

He smiled and slipped the ring on her finger as he leaned forward to kiss her.

"The twelfth time's a charm," he laughed as he kissed her again and again.

It was the perfect way to kick off Christmas morning.


End file.
